We reside during a remarkable time, an age when humanity is about to cross a threshold. We are about to leave the nest and meet alien life. This blog is dedicated to the science of astrobiology: understanding space, the field of our search; exploring the one example we have of life and its abode, our Earth; reaching for the stars; imagining what extraterrestrial life may be like; and encouraging science education. Please join me for daily updates on the ultimate human adventure.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - As many as one quarter of the star clusters in our Milky Way - many more than previously thought - are invaders from other galaxies, according to a new study. The report also suggests there may be as many as six dwarf galaxies yet to be discovered within the Milky Way rather than the two that were previously confirmed. See article.gAbodes - Though comets are thought to be some of the oldest, most primitive bodies in the solar system, new research on comet Wild 2 indicates that inner solar system material was transported to the comet-forming region at least 1.7 million years after the formation of the oldest solar system solids. See article.gLife - Fossils of a previously undiscovered species of dinosaur have been found in slabs of Utah sandstone that were so hard that explosives had to be used to free some of the remains. See article.gIntelligence - UCLA's Jeffrey Brantingham works with the Los Angeles Police Department to analyze crime patterns. He also studies hunter-gatherers in Northern Tibet. If you tell him his research interests sound completely unrelated, he will quickly correct you. See article.gCosmicus - Princeton engineers have made a breakthrough in an 80-year-old quandary in quantum physics, paving the way for the development of new materials that could make electronic devices smaller and cars more energy efficient. See article.gAftermath - What role will extraterrestrials play in humanity’s future? Click here for a paper by University of Toronto Professor Allen Tough. Though written almost 20 years ago, the paper contains plenty of useful ideas that are fresh (and ignored) today, especially those about extraterrestrial behavior and help.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Daniel P. Glavin, an astrobiologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, says the possibility of extraterrestrial life in our solar system is not limited to Mars; other "habitable" worlds might exist including the icy Moons of Jupiter and Saturn, known as Europa and Enceladus. Here’s a Webcast of his presentation.gMessage - The modern Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is based on the premise that a systematic search of the cosmos may reveal artificial signals, transmitted either intentionally or, somewhat like the leakage of TV and radio signals from Earth today, as electromagnetic noise. But will these signals, if we ever detect them, be more than simple beacons telling us that we are not alone? What if the signals bear messages from an alien civilization, attempting to describe the universe from the perspective of an intelligent species evolved completely independently of humankind? See article. Note: This article is from 2001.gLearning - Scientists and students interested in astrobiology will want to make an odyssey to two conferences this year: AbSciCon and AbGradCon. See article.gAftermath - Planetary protection applies to biological cross-contamination of planets during space missions. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 requires space exploration be done in ways that avoid forward contamination (transporting hitchhiker microorganisms from Earth on outbound spacecraft) and back contamination (bringing something back that could be biohazardous to Earth). See article.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Newly released images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal a forest of new jets spraying from prominent fractures on Saturn's moon Enceladus. Relatively warm temperatures were also observed along fractures, potentially caused by water vapor propelling the ice-particle jets of the plumes. See article.gLife - High-impact lab experiments simulate whether the building blocks of life could have survived the rough arrival on Earth via meteorite impact. See article.gCosmicus - Fifty years after NASA began grappling with the idea of life beyond our planet, it's in the midst of planning missions to bring potential traces of Martian life back to Earth ... again. See article.gLearning - “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” These words by Carl Sagan on the back of more than 200 T-shirts the SETI Institute donated to Cosmos Education – a grassroots non-profit dedicated to science and technology education and the role of science and technology in health, the environment, and sustainable development. Its model is simple – we seek to engage, empower, and inspire youth in developing countries through hands-on learning activities and experiments. Students learn about the molecular structure of water by pretending to be oxygen and hydrogen atoms; they learn about how soap works by doing experiments with soap, water, and oil; they learn about the HIV virus by constructing a human chain model of DNA. These and our many other activities capture the curiosity of students and get them asking questions about the world in which they live. See article. Note: This article is from 2005.gAftermath - Here’s an intriguing article that is frequently referenced in astrobiology papers: "The Consequences of a Discovery: Different Scenarios" by astronomer Ivan Almar. Note: This article is from 1995.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - When the 7.0 magnitude earthquake ripped apart Haiti, many of us were reminded of how vulnerable we are to the Earth’s natural systems. Despite our ability to drastically change the climate, in the end we are subject to the forces of nature, whether they have been unleashed as a result of human actions or not. See article.gMessage - There’s a nice column in a 2005 Carlisle (Pa.) Sentinel where the author talks about his use of SETI@home, which “represents that … possibility that tomorrow something truly amazing might happen.” See column.gCosmicus - Future Martian explorers should find it easier to locate mineral deposits on Mars thanks to a team of Australian researchers. See article.gLearning - Although seriously cool, out of this world, things occur in Scott Davidson’s combined math and science class, the class itself is not overly serious. See article.gAftermath - Here’s one common man’s musings on the consequences for society if extraterrestrial intelligence is discovered: "Inevitably society would change should extraterrestrial intelligence be discovered. The question is to what extent. We might react in the same way we did with the new millennium when it was imminent, but it proved to be much ado about almost nothing. The same may be true for the discovery of one or more extraterrestrial civilizations. On the other hand, the extreme opposite is a scenario where all of our worst fears are fulfilled." For more, see article.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Check out the new Are We Alone podcast “Pave New Worlds” by the SETI Institute: "The extra-solar planet count is more than 400 and rising. Before long we may find an Earth-like planet around another star. If we do, and can visit, what next? Stake out our claim on an alien world or tread lightly and preserve it? We'll look at what our record on Earth says about our planet stewardship. Also, whether a massive technological fix can get us out of our climate mess. Plus, what we can learn about extreme climate from our neighbors in the solar system, Venus and Mars."gLife - Scientists have discovered a ocean-dwelling microbe that survives with a remarkably reduced set of genes. Dubbed a “metabolic minimalist,” the unique cyanobacteria plays an important role in the global cycling of nitrogen on Earth. See article.gMessage - If some day we decide to transmit intentional messages to the stars, rather than solely listen as current SETI programs do, what would we say? What sort of first impression would we want to give our celestial correspondents? See article. Note: This article is from 2003.gCosmicus - Where better to find out what’s hot in the world of science than at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)? Held last week in San Diego, the meeting is the nation’s largest annual general scientific conference and draws thousands of attendees from about 50 countries. This year’s theme was bridging science and society, and topics ranged from coral reef fisheries and food allergies to the science of superheroes. Here’s a whirlwind tour through 60 of the seminars. See article.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Researchers have developed a detailed and dynamic 3-D model of Earth's ocean chemistry 635-551 million years ago. The study could significantly advance our understanding of how early animal life evolved on the planet. See article.gMessage - New Scientist magazine has named SETI’s detection of mysterious radio signals from a source light years away as its top science story of 2004. Here’s a copy of the New Scientist’s report when the story broke in September.gCosmicus - Long-term threats to our civilization that may demand our attention include the evolution of the Sun, the Moons stabilizing influence and the evolution of nearby giant stars, as well as events on an intergalactic scale. See article. Note: This article is from 2001.gLearning - Public trust in science as a whole has suffered from recent attacks on climate research, the head of the senior U.S. scientific body admitted at the weekend. See article.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Astronomers have discovered the youngest extra-solar planet around solar-type star BD+20 1790. See article.gLife - A new book, “The Medea Hypothesis”, makes a radical claim: Life is its own worst enemy. Drawing on a detailed study of the geological record Ward argues that rather than James Lovelocks "Gaia" - the supportive Earth-mother - a better image to carry in thinking about life and the planet is Medea the mother in Greek Myth who killed her own children. See review.gMessage - SETI scientists today predicted, “We'll detect an extraterrestrial transmission within 20 years.” See article. Note: This article is from 2004.gCosmicus - NASA's Stardust spacecraft was the first to collect samples from a comet and return them to Earth. Now, the spacecraft is preparing for another cometary visit. The craft is now scheduled to perform a flyby of the comet Tempel 1 in 2011. See article.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Scientists have proposed an answer to a long-standing question concerning the formation of the Earth's interior and the gases that lie trapped deep beneath our planet's surface. The research will help astrobiologists understand how our planet formed and ultimately became habitable for life. See article.gLife - We may not be unique "alone" living beings in the cosmos. Perhaps, at this time, on a sidereal body barely heated by a small star, or on a world illuminated by a binary or a multiple star system, someone is asking itself (him, her or both) the same thing. See article.gMessage - When the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft were launched in 1977, they each included a gold-plated phonograph record (a "golden record") of natural sounds, greetings in human voices, and a variety of music. The record cover has symbolic instructions that show how to use and understand the record, though scientists still debate whether other civilizations will be able to decipher them. For info on Voyager’s golden record, see article. For an explanation of the record cover diagram, click here. For an interactive module that contains greetings, sounds, and pictures included on the record (requires Flash plug-in), click here.gCosmicus - Looking around the stellar neighborhood, what interesting things could demand our attention, technologically? See article.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - A new panorama of a cosmic nebula offers an up-close glimpse of baby stars being born. See article.gAbodes - The powerful telescopes and spacecraft deployed to explore our solar system have paid off incredibly in recent years, uncovering all kinds of surprises about our closest neighbors. The result: a solar system that feels brand new when you look at all that's known compared to just a decade ago. See article.gCosmicus - NASA's space shuttles are flying their final missions this year, but one commercial spaceflight company in California has a new, privately-built rocket standing ready to replace the aging workhorse. See article.gImagining - Another early “Star Trek” alien is the Exo III android makers. We really don’t know what the android creators (aka “the Old Ones”) looked like, but we can presume by the way human duplicates were created with the android-making machine that they appear like Ruk (for pic, click here). Their height indicates that the planet’s gravity is slightly lighter than Earth’s, and there isn’t a discernable difference in the way humans step on this world. Possibly the savanna grass was taller than in our Africa (their hominid shape indicates a primate-oriented evolution). The whitish pallor probably is due to the lack of sunlight (though not the cold, as that also would make their bodies more compact); the aliens did go underground when a global ice age gripped their world. One interesting question is if they possessed the ability to build androids, why didn’t they just leave their planet when its habitability was lowered? Perhaps some religious or cultural belief prevented them from considering or pursuing space travel; possibly they developed the android-making machine when residing underground. While the show’s creators did a good job of making the Old Ones evolutionarily sound given the world’s climate of the past several eons, the aliens fall short on the Earth vertebrate factor: It’s highly unlikely that the exact facial arrangements as those of Earth’s vertebrates when first leaving the water for land would be so exactly duplicated.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - The trigger that ignites a common type of stellar explosion has finally been uncovered with observations from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, providing a major advance in the understanding of supernovas. See article.gAbodes - A new technique is being developed to detect water in the protoplanetary disks of other solar systems. If successful, it would help in our understanding of how habitable planets form. See article.gMessage - When it comes to signaling across space, power is paramount. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.gCosmicus - President Barack Obama has virtually scrapped a National Aeronautics and Space Administration program, directing funds away from a proposed lunar expedition and toward the development of technology. See article.gLearning - The sea near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, is -2° C, but the water is not frozen at that temperature. Why? In this school activity, students can explore some of the properties of water and ice by making their own ice cream.gAftermath - For one futurist’s thoughts about what will happen to humanity when we make first contact with aliens, click here. I offer this site not for its scientific rigor but as an example of something all of us who care about astrobiology should consider: What are the trends in popular culture about first contact? Such thinking will greatly influence public reaction when first contact actually does occur.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - The idea that Mars may harbor microbes containing hydrogen peroxide is based in part on the presence of what appears to be that chemical on Mars’ surface. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.gLife - The iguanas of the Galapagos Islands have evolved many unique characteristics due to their isolation from mainland iguanas. Because they can't swim long distances, biologists believe that the first Galapagos iguanas arrived on natural rafts made from vegetation. The same thing may have happened across the ocean of space. See article.gCosmicus - Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. As part of that, it seeks to understand the origin of the building blocks of life, how these building blocks combine to create life, how life affects and is affected by the environment from which it arose, and finally, whether and how life expands beyond its planet of origin. It requires studying fundamental concepts of life and habitable environments that will help us to recognize biospheres that might be quite different from our own. This includes studying the limits of life, life’s phylogeny and effects of the space environment on living systems. Such fundamental questions require long term stable funding for the science community. This means keeping the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) and the grants programs funded at healthy levels. See article. Note: This article is from 2006.gAftermath - Book Alert: Science fiction writers have given us many fine novels contemplating humankind's first contact with intelligent extraterrestrials. But our nonfiction world has not thought much about what to do if we are actually faced with this situation. Jean Heidmann, Chief Astronomer at the Paris Observatory (and self-styled bioastronomer), offers a book, “Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” on the subject that is at once serious and fun. Heidmann's obvious joy in raw speculation — all of it grounded in real science — is contagious. If aliens send us a message from many light years away, for example, how should we respond? See reviews.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gLife - The discovery of a Martian meteorite in Antarctica over a decade ago ignited the public imagination when it was claimed that the meteorite held signs of life. In this program, Kathy Sawyer discussed the story of the rock from Mars. Note: This program is from 2006.gCosmicus - NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft sailed beyond the outermost planet in our solar system 22 years ago. As a parting gift, the craft turned its camera back toward the Sun and captured a family portrait of the planets. The image showed the Earth as a tiny and precious 'pale blue dot' among the stars. See article.gLearning - Astronomy is about photons: collecting and analyzing photons of all energies reveals the universe. When the professional astronomy community assembles, as it has here in Hawaii, there's a high density of photon hunters. Ironically, the stars are hardly visible outside our hotels. Worldwide, many people live in urban and suburban centers under light polluted skies where the stars are barely visible. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Finding liquid water in so many places in one star system, and even in places once deemed unlikely if not impossible, must give one pause when discussing the likelihood of life on other worlds. See article.gLife - The possibility that life was shared between Earth and Mars could be tested with a DNA analyzer. One research team has built a prototype and plans field tests on a South American volcano. See article.gCosmicus - NASA's Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, has now parked for the winter on Mars. However, the rover's position has its solar panels pointed away from the Sun. If the rover cannot get enough sunlight, it will be forced to go into hibernation. See article.gLearning - Here’s a neat classroom activity: “Alien Safari.” New from NASA PlanetQuest, Alien Safari can be used in your classrooms or informal education settings to help kids discover some of the most extreme organisms on our planet, and find out what they are telling astrobiologists about the search for life beyond Earth.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - If Venus and Mars had been switched at "birth" we might have had two habitable planets in our solar system. See article. Note: This article is from 2001.gMessage - In Part Three in the series on stellar and terrestrial evolution, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director of the Hayden Planetarium and host of the PBS/NOVA Series "Origins", discusses the limits of radio searches for extraterrestrial life. See article. Note: This interview is from 2005.gCosmicus - Michael Griffin, who championed the Constellation program as NASA administrator under President George W Bush, told the Washington Post that its cancellation amounts to an abandonment of human space flight. See article.gLearning - Do you want to incorporate astronomy into your science curriculum? Astronomy offers an inviting way into the world and culture of science. Here’s a set of dynamic lesson plans to build engaging classroom lessons and activities using the many audio and video resources from StarDate Online.gAftermath - The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence is accelerating its pace and adopting fresh strategies. This increases the likelihood of successful detection in the near future. Humanity's first contact with alien intelligence will trigger extraordinary attention from the media, from government authorities, and from the general public. By improving our readiness for contact, especially for security during the first 30 days, we can avoid the most negative scenarios — and also enhance humanity's benefits from this first contact with an alien intelligence. Six potential problem areas include communicating with the media and the public, communicating with scientific colleagues, government control, an assassin or saboteur, well-meaning officials and lawsuits. See article.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - Space is a pretty empty place. But it’s not completely empty, as a new map of the interstellar space in the 1,000 light-years around the sun shows.See article.gMessage - When talk turns to SETI, there’s one question that’s as common as catfish: “We’re not broadcasting to the aliens; so what makes you think they’ll be broadcasting to us?” See article. Note: This article is from 2006.gCosmicus - A NASA solar probe has rocketed toward a rendezvous with the Sun. See article.gLearning - Teachers, schools and especially students need science materials that teach fundamental science - gravity, evolution and such - and that engage students with the evidence that we are indeed made of star stuff. See article. Note: This article is from 2005.gAftermath - Scientists should pay greater attention to discussing the social implications of discovering extraterrestrial life - even though many researchers shy away from the subject because they don't consider it "hard" science. See article.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Exposed rock layers near the center of a crater on Mars reveal a record of major environmental change on the red planet. This record of Mars' history could help astrobiologists understand whether or not habitable environments once existed on Mars. See article.gLife - In the search for life beyond Earth, we should not expect to find life forms we’re familiar with. Determining whether something completely alien is ‘alive’ could be a challenge, so a universal definition of life is needed. Biologists have yet to agree on a definition, but a new theory attempts to provide a solution. See article.gMessage - How easy would it be for them to learn of our existence? See article. Note: This article is from 2003.gCosmicus - Forty years ago the U.S. raced to plant the first foot on the moon. Now, as India, Russia, South Korea and China compete to return for further exploration, the U.S has all but dropped out - and even Buzz Aldrin thinks that may be okay. See article.gAftermath - What if we did contact another intelligent life form in the universe? Should we respond? What should we say? What traits best represent our humanity? Douglas Vakoch, the SETI Institute’s director of Interstellar Message Composition, is working with scientists, artists, linguists, composers, and others to imagine how to speak for our planet. Here’s a Web cast in which Vakoch describes his work; scroll to “Talking with ET.”

Friday, February 12, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gLife - From Yellowstone Park to the ocean's abysses, researchers are in hot pursuit of the universal ancestor. Not the sort that is painted in oils and hung proudly in the hallway, but a single-celled creature with few distinctive features save a fondness for living in near-boiling water. See article. Note: This article is from 1998.gMessage - Quote of the Day: "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us." - Bill Watterson, “The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes”gCosmicus - Summary: The international Cassini-Huygens mission to explore Saturn and its moons has been extended to 2017. With the new mission extension, Cassini can continue to gather valuable data about the Saturn system. See article.gLearning - The world-renowned SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute will host science fans and experts, including celebrities and influential thinkers, at the first-ever SETIcon to be held Aug. 13-15, 2010. As one of the most anticipated scientific events of 2010, scientists and enthusiasts from across the globe will present a dynamic program dedicated to one of humanity’s most profound questions: “Are we alone?” See article.gAftermath - Look for an intriguing book to read: “Space, the Final Frontier?” by G. Genta e M. Rycroft. Published in 2003. The book primarily examines how we can become a spacefaring civilization, but it does include an interesting chapter about life in the universe, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, the Drake Equation, intelligent lifeforms, whether other lifeforms will be more like ET or Alien, and the possible humanoid characteristics of extraterrestrials. See commentary and a table of contents.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Studying molecules in the atmospheres of exoplanets used to be a task reserved for powerful, space-based telescopes. Now, astronomers have used a small, ground-based telescope to identify atmospheric organic molecules on a distant planet. The finding means ground-based telescopes could be used in the hunt for habitable planets. See article.gLife - NASA says advanced instruments will allow it to definitively prove whether three Martian meteorites contain evidence of life. See article.gMessage - Looking for a club to join? Try The SETI League. The league’s site has a lot of great information for everyone from the beginner to accomplished technogeek.gCosmicus - Obama's proposed cancellation of Constellation moon program means more money for research into deep space travel, NASA chief says. See article.gLearning - Astronomy doesn't deserve its reputation as a tough, expensive hobby. You just need to begin with the right advice. See article.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - New images from the Hubble Space Telescope show that Pluto is undergoing seasonal changes. This change of seasons is evident in the surface color and brightness of the dwarf planet. The images are helping scientists understand planetary processes in our solar system, and will be used to calculate exposure times for the cameras aboard NASA's New Horizons missions when it arrives at Pluto. See article.gLife - Space is a hostile environment for living things, but small organisms on the Expose-E experiment unit outside Europe's Columbus ISS lab module have resisted the solar UV radiation, cosmic rays, vacuum and varying temperatures for 18 months. A certain lichen seems to be particularly happy in open space! See article.gMessage - What would be a sign of alien intelligence? Forget mathematics — try a simple, pure-tone radio signal. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.gCosmicus - Despite the Obama administration's multibillion dollar bet that a scrappy band of entrepreneurs can revitalize the U.S. manned space program, its budget also offers sweeteners to some of the nation's largest aerospace contractors. See article.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gAbodes - Researchers are learning about one of the biggest species extinctions on Earth by studying an environmental disaster that occurred in Spain 11 years ago. The study could provide practical information about how the biosphere responds to abrupt ecological changes. See article.gLife - A new paper may overturn ideas that life emerged from a “primordial soup” of organic molecules before evolving out of the oceans millions of years later. The study asserts that hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor provided chemical energy to kick-start early life. See article.gMessage - Here’s a neat piece that explores the motives for a civilization broadcasting to the galaxy at large. See article. Note: This article is from 2009.gCosmicus - NASA has begun a live video stream of astronauts working inside the International Space Station. See article.gAftermath - Clearly, if we are not alone in the universe, there are some unavoidable theological and philosophical consequences. We should reflect on the consequences of a positive result of either finding extraterrestrial microorganisms, or receiving a radio message form an extraterrestrial source: When such discovery occurs, the implications are likely to have an impact on our culture requiring adjustments possibly more radical than those arising from the evidence that humans descend from microorganisms. See article.

Monday, February 08, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - ESO has released a magnificent VLT image of the giant stellar nursery surrounding NGC 3603, in which stars are continuously being born. Embedded in this scenic nebula is one of the most luminous and most compact clusters of young, massive stars in our Milky Way, which therefore serves as an excellent "local" analogue of very active star-forming regions in other galaxies. The cluster also hosts the most massive star to be "weighed" so far. See article.gMessage - Interstellar spacecraft are superior to electromagnetic wave propagation for extrasolar exploration and communication. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence should include a search for extraterrestrial probes. See article. Note: This article is from 1983.gCosmicus - ESA and NASA are inviting scientists from across the world to propose instruments for their joint Mars mission, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. See article.gLearning - The fact that you’re confronting this column on a web site devoted to space science and astronomy makes you roughly as rare as technetium. Despite the fact that astronomy is one of the two most popular science subjects in American schools (the other is biology), it’s really not that popular. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.gAftermath - As SETI scientists plan for their first contact with other worlds, who better to consult with than anthropologists, who specialize in encounters with exotic cultures? And thus, over the past several years the SETI Institute has repeatedly brought together anthropologists and scholars from other disciplines, in an attempt to bridge the gap between humans and extraterrestrials. See article. Note: This article is from 2007.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - While a supernova can be seen, it can't be heard, as sound waves cannot travel through space. But what if the light waves emitted by the exploding star and other cosmological phenomena could be translated into sound? See article.gMessage - Here’s a quick, easy to understand primer to SETI’s radio searches and the Fermi Paradox.gCosmicus - It's 150 years into the future, and Homo sapiens have managed to eradicate all of Earth's native flora and fauna. But for some reason the nature-free lifestyle of our great-grandkids still requires that we import "unobtainium," a mineral of unspecified application that's worth $20 million a kilogram. Even crack isn't that pricey. See article.gLearning - Be sure to check out Ken Murphy’s essay at adAstra: “Unlike many in my generation, I've never been particularly enamored of Mars. I don’t dislike it, but my interest has long been our Moon, such a tantalizingly close destination right there in the sky. Looking for a niche in the space field after graduate school, I decided to try to become the most knowledgeable person of my generation with regards to the Moon. It seemed the perfect Gen. X slacker goal - I'm part of a small demographic, studying a relatively esoteric (for my generation) topic. How hard could it be?” See essay. Note: This essay is from 2007.gAftermath - What then might we say to hold up our end of an interstellar conversation with ETI? See article. Note: This article is from 2008.

Saturday, February 06, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - For the first time, astronomers have found a supernova explosion with properties similar to a gamma-ray burst, but without seeing any gamma rays from it. See article.gMessage - Among the most important SETI work is being done at Harvard University. The Harvard SETI home page discusses the Radio Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, The Arecibo Search for Early Hydrogen and Optical SETI.gCosmicus - There is a genuine reason to be concerned. Earth has been hit by asteroids and comets many times over the past 4.5 billion years since its formation. See article. Note: This article is from 2002.gLearning - Here’s a preview version of the Astrobiology Curriculum, an interdisciplinary year-long course for middle and high school students developed by TERC and NASA. Through a series of investigations based on the search for life on other planets, students explore diverse concepts in chemistry, biology, Earth and space science, and engineering. Topics include the geologic history of planets, the chemical foundations of life, biological diversity, extremophiles, and the use of remote-sensing instrumentation. Students develop research skills through modeling, lab experiments, field observations, and image and data analysis, and are linked to data from NASA's planetary space missions. The site includes links to the overview, course description, sample activities with teacher guide, student guide and worksheets, and other astrobiology links.gAftermath - Recently, the SETI Institute conducted an informal online survey to show some of the steps psychologists and sociologists can take when doing research on SETI. As we noted in an earlier article, there are many ways that online surveys fail to meet the standards for rigorous scientific research. Nevertheless, Internet surveys have one strong selling point: If they are examined closely, they can provide a very concrete sense of the steps that social scientists take when conducting real studies under more controlled conditions. With the goal of gaining insight into the process of doing social scientific work on SETI, we will delve more deeply into the specific items used in our online questionnaire. See article. Note: This article is from 2002.

Friday, February 05, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - Galaxies throughout the universe are ablaze with star birth. But for a nearby, small spiral galaxy, the star-making party is almost over. See article.gLife - Trails found in rocks dating back 565 million years are thought to be the earliest evidence of animal locomotion ever found. See article.gMessage - Would anyone deliberately beam high-powered signals into space? Can we assume that extraterrestrial societies would broadcast in ways that would mark their location as plainly as a flag on a golf green? See article. Note: This article is from 2003.gCosmicus - New Mexico's Spaceport America is no longer the stuff of fancy graphics. See article.gLearning - Dr. Dennis Schatz created the first "Earth-based" comet many years ago. His very popular demonstration is conducted in classrooms and science museums around the world. You can build a comet following Schatz's very own recipe, "Making a Comet in the Classroom".gAftermath - What are the societal implications of astrobiology? A NASA workshop in 1999 set out to determine what they might be. Here’s their report.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - For decades, the conventional wisdom on M dwarfs and habitable planets was “forget it.” See article. Note: This article is from 2005.gAbodes - The extrasolar worlds discovered so far are all super-size (after all, that’s what the Doppler wobble technique is best at finding). However, if you sort out these giant planets into bins, you find that the somewhat smaller ones greatly outnumber the bigger guys. See article. Note: This article is from 2002.gLife - A 60-million-year-old relative of crocodiles described recently by University of Florida researchers in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology was likely a food source for Titanoboa, the largest snake the world has ever known. See article.gMessage - What technological manifestations would make an advanced extraterrestrial civilization detectable? See article. Note: This paper was written in 1992.gCosmicus - International experts converged on Mexico City this month to discuss the best way to establish a global detection and warning network to monitor potential asteroid threats to all life on Earth. See article.gLearning - Bioastronomy. Its a nifty word, but is bioastronomy an enthusiastic amalgam of biology and astronomy real science? See article. Note: This article is from 2002.gAftermath - If some day we detect a radio signal from a distant civilization, we’ll have to make some adjustments in the way we view ourselves. After millennia of knowing of no other intelligence in the universe than humankind, we could face a considerable challenge to our terrestrial egotism. In the process, will we simply gain a little healthy humility about our place in the universe? Or would it be downright humiliating to compare our own meager accomplishments with those of more advanced extraterrestrials? See article. Note: This article is from 2000.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have detected, in another galaxy, a stellar-mass black hole much farther away than any other previously known. With a mass above fifteen times that of the Sun, this is also the second most massive stellar-mass black hole ever found. It is entwined with a star that will soon become a black hole itself. See article.gAbodes - NASA’s IceBite team are studying one of the few spots on Earth where the terrain resembles that of the Phoenix landing site on Mars. The place: a mile above sea level in Antarctica’s Dry Valleys. The goal: to test ice-penetrating drills for future Mars missions. Click 'Ask a Scientist' to ask the science team questions. See article.gLife - New evidence from astrobiology "overwhelmingly" supports the view that life was seeded from outside Earth, a scientist has claimed. See article.gMessage - If some day we decide to transmit intentional messages to the stars, rather than solely listen as current SETI programs do, what would we say? What sort of first impression would we want to give our celestial correspondents? See article.gCosmicus - Supercomputing has helped astrophysicists create massive models of the universe, but such simulations remain out of reach for many in the United States and around the world. That could all change after a successful test allowed scientists in Portland, Ore., to watch a Chicago-based simulation of how ordinary matter and mysterious dark matter evolved in the early universe. See article.gLearning - SETI Institute planetary astronomer Mark Showalter is rabid about rings. See article. Note: This article is from 2008.gAftermath - Among scientists involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, it’s quite common to be focused on the future, ever mindful that it could take years, or even decades, to find a signal from otherworldly intelligence. But if historian Steve Dick has his way, astronomers will also turn their attention toward the past as they search for life beyond Earth — to discover the aftereffects of contact between two intelligent cultures. See article. Note: This article is from 2003.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - The Alpha Centauri dual star system is thought to host rocky Earth-mass worlds, but this assumes they could form in the turbulent conditions associated with the opposing gravitational tugs of paired star systems. See article.gAbodes - Differences in the number and speed of cometary impacts onto Jupiter's large moons Ganymede and Callisto some 3.8 billion years ago can explain their vastly different surfaces and interior states. See article.gLife - It’s a question as common as brown dogs: will alien life be carbon-based? See article. Note: This article is from 2004.gMessage - The SETI Institute predicts that we'll detect an extraterrestrial transmission within 20 years. If that turns out to be true, it'll probably be the folks at UC Berkeley's Hat Creek radio observatory who will have heard the call. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.gCosmicus - President Barack Obama's proposed budget gives NASA a $6 billion 5-year boost but aborts early attempts to return to the moon and turns over space transportation to commercial companies. See article.gLearning - While we yearn to walk on other worlds, SETI Institute scientist Cynthia Phillips strolls the surfaces of distant planets each day at her computer. She’s a planetary geologist on a quest to understand how liquids change the surfaces of other worlds. See article. Note: This article is from 2008.gImagining - Not so long ago, putative extraterrestrials were the color of moss. Generic space aliens were inevitably described as Little Green Men, probably because an avocado complexion is dramatically unlike any human skin tint. See article. Note: This article is from 2004.gAftermath - What would an intelligent signal from another planet change about human destiny? This large question is the topic of the book "The SETI Factor" by Frank White, who also analyzes how to announce such an historic finding and whether it would unite or divide nations. Note: This article is from 2003.

Monday, February 01, 2010

Welcome! "Alien Life" tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation. Here's today's news:gStars - Cars run out of petrol, stars run out of fuel and galaxies collapse into black holes. As they do, the universe and everything in it is gradually running down. But how run down is it? Researchers from The Australian National University have found that the universe is 30 times more run down than previously thought. See article.gLife - Biologists have discovered the secret to the evolutionary longevity of bdelloid rotifers. These microscopic organisms are able to avoid parasites by drying up until they are exposed to a fresh drop of water. These unique lifeforms are helping scientists understand the complexities of life on Earth and the various methods that organisms have evolved for survival. See article.gMessage - Calling all aliens, this is Earth. Are you receiving me?" Rather than simply listening for signals of extra-terrestrial life, some scientists are preparing to take a proactive approach to finding alien intelligence on other planets. They believe we should start beaming regular signals into space specifically to find intelligent life, even as other scientists believe it could be an invitation to danger. See article.gLearning - The field of astrobiology is young enough to still have vocal critics; in particular, those who think that "astrobiology" is nothing more than a hope that life will someday be discovered beyond Earth. See article.gImagining - Will aliens be super-smart predators, glass-veined acid-dwellers or giant microbial blobs? We asked astrobiologists for their best guesses. See article.

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About Me

I'm the owner and chief editor at Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the editing and proofreading needs of writers both new and published. For more than two decades, I worked as an award-winning journalist, with half of those years spent as an editor. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres have been published, and I am the author of the nonfiction “Hikes with Tykes” series, a novel "Windmill", and a collection of poetry, "Love Letters to Sophie's Mom". For seven years I worked as an English teacher or a community college journalism instructor. I hold a master's degree in English and a bachelor's in journalism and English.